Improved ditching-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT l OFFICE.

JACOB P. REES AND R. A. GRAHAM, OF GREEN SBURG, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS i TO THEMSELVES AND C. C. BURNS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVED DlTCHlNG-MACHINE.

Specilieation forming pa-rt of Letters Patent No. 54,823, dated May 15, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JACOB P. REES and ROBERT A. GRAHAM, of' Greensburg, in the county of Decatur and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ditching-Machines; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof', which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference bein g had to the accom pan yingdrawings, forming a part ot' this specification.4

The object of this invention is to construct or arrange the ditching device of the machine in such a manner that by drawing the machine over the portion of the ground which'is to be ditched either one or more times a ditch ot' any desired depth may be made; and the invention also consists, still further, in so constructing` the machine that the body can be raised above 'he frame in which the ditching wheel or device is arranged, so that it' the body he then loaded in any suitable and convenient mode the ditching-wheel can be thus forced into the ground to any desired depth, pressing the dirt out upon each side.

In `accompanying plate ot' drawings :our improvements are illustrated, Figure l being a plan or top View ofthe machine; Fig. 2, a ver tical section taken in the plane of the line x x, Fig. l; and Fig. 3 an elevation ofthe rear end of thennachine.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

`A in the drawings represents the body of the machine, supported upon two wheels, B B, one upon each side ofthe same, turning upon short axles C thereof, in the same line with each other, but only extendingpartiallyacross the under side of the body.

D is aframe formed by two parallel bars or beams, E E, placed a short distance apart and secured together near each end, having between the two points of its length, where joined together, a wheel, F, which is the ditching device, hung by its center trunnion-pins, a a, upon each side, so as to freely turn.

This ditching-wheel is made thin at its edge or periphery, gradually increasing in thickness toward its center or axis, as plainly shown in the drawings, and the frame in which it is hung is placed under the body of the machine, extending in lthe direction ot' its length, with the parallel uprights G passing up through the body A at or near each end, with a crosspiece, H, over the upper ends ofthe same. Through each of these cross-pieces H H loosely passes a vertical screw-shaft, I, secured at their lower ends in the body of the machine, with a thumbscrew nut, J, upon their upper ends, by turning which nuts in the proper directions, either to the right or left, as the case may be, the said ditching-wheel trame will be either raised or lowered, as lthe case may be, as is obvious without further explanation.

L is a pole, secured at 011e end to the slotted end ot' the wheel-frame, to which pole the horses which are to draw the machine are harnessed in any proper manner.

From the above description it is plain to be seen that if the boxes M M ot' the body otl the machine be loaded in any suitable and convenient manner and the thumb-screw nuts J J turned in the proper direction to raise the machine-body, the wheel can be made to penetrate the ground in which it is desired to form a ditch to any required depth within the limits ot' the machine, the ditching-wheel turning around as the machine is drawn over the ground and pressing the dirtto each side ofthe same.

We elaimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The ditching-wheel F, or its equivalent, arranged in a suitable frame so hung in and to the body of the machine as to be raised or low ered, substantially in the manner described, and for the purpose specified.

JACOB P. BEES. R. A. GRAHAM. Witnesses:

J. S. ScoBEY, GENOEG HAMILTON, 

